Just a Moment
by zpplnchick
Summary: That's all they had... Set during the concessions scene of 7x14 - "Street Fighter Man" - in which Hyde doesn't walk away. A short JH one-shot.


**Summary:** That's all they had... Set during the concessions scene of 7x14 in which Hyde doesn't walk away.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own this show, these characters, or the origins of this scene. I do, however, own the computer I wrote this on and the coffee I drank as I typed it out.

**Author's Note:** I've always loved the original scene. Hyde loved Jackie—that's all there is to it. Instead of yelling at her, he saw her pain and did what he could to fix it by giving her comfort through Donna. This was just another way I thought it could have gone down.

This is mostly from Hyde's perspective, but a bit of Jackie got thrown in because she seems to always get her way.

Rated T for some language.

* * *

He walked into the concessions area, looking through the crowd of people trying to find her. She was short but he was hoping he could see that fluffy yellow ball on the top of her hat.

_Now that I'm single, I realize how big of a loser you are and I am LUCKY to be rid of you!_

She had some nerve, that girl of his. Ex-girl.

He was the one that was lucky to be rid of her, if anything.

No more of her whining, no more of her petty antics, and no more of her pointy-toed shoes in his shin. He should be the one celebrating. He had tried, but the game was starting to turn sour with the two idiots who couldn't figure out how to _both_ get in to the stadium at the same time; and of course with Red yelling at Forman to take that damn jersey off… maybe he'd get himself a cotton candy.

After all, a man has the right to celebrate when he's finally able to get rid of the whiny, self-absorbed narcissist that had been attached to his arm for the past… shit.

He stopped. There she was, right around the corner of the pillar. Crying.

For a second he just stood in the middle of the concessions stand with people swerving to go around him with his head hung in what could only be shame. He was a jerk, plain and simple.

Always fucking making her cry.

She'd always been the only one that could tear him up inside at the sight of her tears. Even the ones that he knew were only for show, like that time a few years ago when she got him to take her to prom.

He wasn't stupid. He knew they weren't real then. But the sound of her sobs was too much to take because even though he knew they weren't real, the pain in her heart was, and for some god-forsaken reason, that was just something he couldn't handle.

Not when it came to her.

But these. These were real. There was no big show; no loud sobs drowned in his coat fabric as she begged for something or another. These were the worst because they were done alone.

And she should never be alone.

Hyde knew he should have just let her be and turned back around to go back to the game, but before he even knew what he was doing, he had walked up to her and gathered her in his arms. He held her tight while she sobbed harder, wrapping her arms around his neck. They stayed like that, absorbed in each other, for a long while as he offered her the only comfort he knew—by letting her cry. Over him. Over his stupidity.

And though he knew how she felt and hated knowing that she was carrying the same pain he was, he was also relieved; the break-up had affected her as much as it had him.

He trailed his hand down her back, rubbing it into the softness of her coat, bringing her body closer to his. Slowly, her sobs tapered off and only a few sniffles escaped, but still she gripped him tightly. He had missed this, he realized. He had missed the feeling of her small body wrapped in his arms; the smell and feel of her hair against his cheek as he held her.

She, for so long, had been his source of comfort on the shitty days—the days when he wanted nothing more than a cold beer and a wall to punch. But one hug from her would always, somehow, settle the rage in his chest and quiet his pain.

He had missed the simple pleasure of just holding her.

Slowly, eventually, he pulled away slightly and lay his forehead against hers as she pulled her arms back from around his neck and wrapped them around his torso instead.

"This is hard on me, too," he said softly. "Stop trying to hurt me, Jackie. It hurts enough."

o-o-o

His soft voice and pained expression made her realize her Steven wasn't taking this as flippantly as she had thought. She was glad that he was hurting too—she wasn't left alone in this. But it only made her love him more, thus serving to make her angrier at the whole thing because this was all that they could have. One moment of holding each other before having to go back to everyone and pretend that there was nothing there.

Having to go back and know that it couldn't be fixed.

At his words, more tears fell down her face and she had the strongest urge to kiss him, to take his pain away and replace it with soft caresses and affectionate kisses.

She knew that would only serve to create more tension, however. It would only bring them more pain and screw up everything worse than it already was, so she resolved to squeezing her arms tighter around him to give him one last hug. He responded in kind, bringing her body closer to his, before she leaned up to place a soft kiss on his cheek before letting him go.

o-o-o

Jackie walked past him to head towards the bathroom and he stood in the same spot for a few moments before turning back around to head back to his friends. His heart still pounding, he masked his emotions with a look of indifference and sat down next to Donna.

"Hey," Donna said when she saw him coming back down the stairs. "What happened with Jackie?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing. I didn't find her," he stated distractedly, determined to not show emotion. He wondered if Jackie was as distraught as he was and his heart clenched once more at the thought. He knew she would have checked herself in the mirror in the bathroom before going back to the snack bar to get the cotton candy.

"You might wanna go look for her though, by the snack bar," he added as an afterthought before ducking his head and muttering, "Behind the pillar, concourse A."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Thanks for reading. This has been on my computer for I don't know how long. I got in a T7S mood recently, however, and dragged it out of the crevices of to spruce it up and ready it for publishing. I hope you liked it!


End file.
